Image Community Protest copyright L. Gershwin

There are many threats to the continued viability of the salmon farming industry. Supply of feed. Demand for product. Social license to operate. Investor confidence. Etc etc. But far and above, the biggest threat is of the industry's own making, and is poised to become much MUCH worse. 

There is one thing that neither the salmon industry’s profit nor its power can control, and that is the response of the environment to wanton destruction. The faster the industry grows, the more farms, the more pens per farm, and the more fish per pen, the faster the habitat degrades. And the faster the habitat degrades, the more fish do not make it to slaughter. The ecosystem is already severely distressed, and even just fractions of degrees of warming will only make it worse. It is entirely within the Industry’s control to farm in such a way that the environment on which it depends remains healthy and sustainable, but all indications are that it has so far chosen not to. And the regulatory bodies, whose job it is to enforce guidelines, appear to routinely look the other way.

Despite all the state and federal regulations, there is one that is arguably the supreme regulator: Nature. If we destroy with one hand while begging a pardon with the other, Nature just gives us the middle finger. Nature’s regulatory system cannot be played. Nature is a cruel regulator: when you are out of second chances, you are finished. The inevitability of this truth cannot be overstated [1].

REFERENCES

[Click here to go to Limitations References]